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Question

What size is a YouTube thumbnail?

16:9 for regular videos. YouTube's help page suggests 3840 x 2160 pixels for video thumbnails, with a minimum width of 640 pixels, in JPG or PNG. For Shorts it suggests 9:16, at 2160 x 3840 pixels.

YouTube's help page lists upload limits of 2 MB for video thumbnails on mobile and 50 MB on desktop, and treats the aspect ratios as recommendations.

Thumbnails are seen small, so design for a phone screen: one clear subject, high contrast and a few large words at most. YouTube shows a timestamp in the bottom right corner, so keep important elements out of it.

Text in AI images can come out misspelled, so check every letter, or add the words afterwards in a design tool.

Source: YouTube Help, add video thumbnails, checked October 20, 2026.

Next step

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Last reviewed October 20, 2026 by ImageQuarry

Create an image. Edit it with words. Keep refining.

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Describe one clear subject and leave space for the title.

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